I Only Want Her
by lotrfan2888
Summary: Claire is all alone in the jungle. Enter Ethan...


She was so scared. She was all alone and she was terrified. Claire's hand flew protectively to her stomach. Her baby must be frightened, too. He was moving around like crazy. "It's alright, Peanut," she whispered. "Everything is fine." Now, if she could just believe that, she would be much better off.

She really shouldn't be alone in the jungle. It was just so dark. The trees refused to allow much light past their branches. Claire shivered slightly. Everyone had warned her against coming here, Charlie especially. Claire smiled slightly at the mere thought of his name. Charlie. He was the best friend she had found in such a long time.

Her baby suddenly became still as every noise in the jungle ceased, and she was engulfed in complete and utter silence. Claire's heart was pounding. What was happening? She was in the jungle; there should be some sounds from the birds chirping or the wind rustling the leaves. But there was nothing, not the slightest noise.

A loud metallic clanking sound made Claire leap almost a foot in the air. She spun around to where the noise came from, shaking violently. Why was she here? She was putting her baby in unnecessary danger. She had to protect her baby and get out of the jungle, back to the beach. Claire began walking as quickly as her stomach allowed her in the direction back to the camp of the survivors.

"There you are."

Claire froze at the sound of that voice. Not that voice. That voice sent shivers up her spine and made her blood run cold. In spite of her better judgment, she turned around to view the face that accompanied the voice as she heard, "I've been looking for you."

Ethan was standing about a hundred yards away from her. He stepped out from behind a tree with a blank expression on his face. Why was he following her? Claire was shaking again as she whirled around and began running. She had to get away from Ethan. He wanted to hurt her baby, she could just feel it, and she sure as hell was not going to let. She could hear him call, "You had better stop, Claire. You don't want to make me angry."

She could hear his footsteps behind her. Every glance back showed to Claire that Ethan was gaining so quickly on her, and it was not simply because she was pregnant. He was an extraordinarily fast runner. No human should be able to run that fast.

Ethan was going to catch her. Claire's fear turned in waves of despair. There was no escape, no chance to get to safety. Still running, Claire looked around, seeing if there was anything she could use to defend herself and her unborn baby. She saw absolutely nothing. Claire's legs were becoming heavier and heavier. She wasn't going to be able to run much further. Suddenly, her legs gave out from beneath her, and Claire collapsed to the ground.

There was a hand on her back. He had captured her. Claire started trembling and tears spilled from her eyes. She was being pulled to her feet, and she was too tired to protest. She heard a voice murmur, "Claire, you need to keep on going, love! I'll hold him off and give you some time."

That wasn't Ethan's voice! Claire blinked rapidly to see a much more comforting face appear. "Charlie!" she whispered, so relieved. She should have known that Charlie would be here, when she needed help most. He had promised to protect her, hadn't he? But this time he couldn't do much. She was too exhausted, much too exhausted to go any further. "I can't keep going. I just can't, Charlie!" She buried her face in his shoulder.

It looked like it pained Charlie greatly, but he pulled gently away from her. "For your baby, Claire, you have to get to safety." He had cupped her chin in his hand and was staring at her with his intense gray eyes. "Please, Claire. I need the two of you to be out of harm's way."

Charlie was right; of course he was right. She had been insane to give up. Claire needed to keep her little Peanut safe. Nodding at Charlie, she took a shaky step forward before she started running again, leaving him behind her to face Ethan. She could do this. Her baby needed her to do this, and Charlie needed her to keep running. Taking a quick look back, she saw Charlie standing right where she had left him. She could do this, for her Peanut and for Charlie. She had a terrible, sinking feeling in her stomach about leaving him, though. However, her baby's safety had to come first.

"Get out of my way, Charlie. This does not concern you."

Claire nearly stopped running as she heard Ethan address Charlie. But she had to keep going. However, her heart was hammering in her throat. He wouldn't do anything to Charlie, would he? If anything should happen to Charlie…

"The second you started even planning to do anything to Claire, it concerned me." Charlie's voice was clear and angry. "And you are gonna bloody stop following her right this bloody instant."

"I tried to warn you."

Claire heard a thudding noise, as if something hit the ground. She couldn't help it. Claire ceased running to reel around and view what was happening. Charlie was lying on his back, staring up at a furious Ethan. Charlie rolled over to his stomach, got to his knees, and then pulled himself to his feet, taking a swipe at Ethan as he did so. Ethan, however, grabbed Charlie's wrist and twisted it back, eliciting a slight groan of pain from Charlie. Still holding onto Charlie's arm, Ethan hit Charlie squarely in the jaw. Claire winced as Charlie landed on his back again. It took every ounce of willpower in her to keep from flying to Charlie's side. He was getting the crap beaten out of him for her, and it would be a sad way of repaying him if she walked right up to Ethan to be trapped. She would continue her run in a second, she told herself. She had to be sure that Charlie was going to be okay.

Charlie staggered to his feet, spitting blood from his mouth. Ethan met this by punching Charlie in the stomach, obviously knocking the wind out of him, and then sending him another blow to the mouth. This sent Charlie sprawling once again. Ethan stepped over him. "Now leave me alone, Charlie. I only want her."

Ethan was coming at her. Eyes wide in terror, Claire started sprinting again. She had no idea where she even was now. She was so scared, only it wasn't for herself anymore. She was scared that Ethan was going to injure her Peanut, and she was worried for Charlie. Ethan wasn't a murderer, was he? Claire was crying again. Charlie had to be fine. He simply had to be.

"You'll… never… have her, you dirty bastard." Claire heard Charlie grunt this sentence, and then another yelp of pain assailed her ears, only this time it was Ethan crying out, not Charlie. That's my man, Claire thought proudly as she darted past a number of trees.

But then Claire heard something that made her halt and then dash back to where she had left Ethan in a panic. She heard Ethan say, "I didn't want to have to kill you, Charlie, but you've left me with no other choice," followed by the sound of someone choking. Claire reached the spot where she had left the men fighting. She could see marks on the ground from their scuffle, but she couldn't see either Charlie or Ethan. All thoughts of getting herself to safety had flown from her mind. She needed to find Charlie. "Charlie?" she called out in a quivering voice, not caring if Ethan heard her or not. "Charlie? Where are you? God, Charlie! Answer me!"

Claire was spinning around, praying for some sign of Charlie. Her tears had dried up from the state of absolute fear that gripped her. Ethan could not kill Charlie. Charlie simply could not die. She needed her Charlie. Claire needed Charlie like she needed air or water, to be able to live, to be able to cope with everyday life. Claire froze as she realized that she was madly, head-over-heels in love with Charlie. God, it was a hell of a time to become conscious of these feelings. Hadn't she just shot him down when he offered to be her friend? And now, it might be too late to let him know that she'd love nothing better than to be his friend and so much more.

Hearing a rustling sound in the trees ahead of her, Claire rushed forward. "Char…" she started to say but abruptly stopped when she viewed what Ethan had left for her to see. Blindfolded, Charlie was hanging from a tree, slightly swaying in the wind. Claire's heart, which had been beating at a record rate, now seemingly stopped altogether in her throat. Looking at the rope around his neck, Claire was certain that she was going to pass out or vomit or both. Her Charlie… Claire was biting her lip so hard that she was drawing blood. Ethan had killed her Charlie. Claire sunk to the ground, unable to tear her eyes from Charlie's body. Nothing was ever going to be right ever again. Claire started sobbing, weeping harder than she ever had in her entire life. Her Peanut was still, as if he was mourning for Charlie, too. She buried her face in her hands, trying to hide from the sight that tore her heart to pieces. She felt a shadow fall upon her. There was only one person that it could be. Not even looking up, Claire whispered, "You killed him. How could you kill him?" The shaking that had previously been only in her shoulders spread throughout her whole body as her whisper rose to a shriek, the loudest she had screamed. "You've killed him!" The words that Claire was uttering dissolved into piercing, wordless cries of anguish.

Claire's eyes flew open. She was still screaming, but she definitely was not in the jungle any longer. She was lying on her little makeshift bed. And Ethan was nowhere to be seen. However, a figure was hurrying towards her, and Claire shed some more tears down her already soaked cheeks when she saw who it was.

"Everything alright, Claire?" Charlie asked, squatting down beside her, a look of worry etched on his features.

Claire couldn't even find words to answer. She sat up so quickly that her head would have collided with Charlie's if his quick reflexes hadn't allowed him to move, and she flung her arms around his neck. Her hands moved quickly up and down his back, through his unkempt hair that curled up at the ends, over his chest to feel his heart beat and his lungs move, finally draping her arms over Charlie's shoulders. She had to be absolutely positive that Charlie was alive. Claire was positively beaming through her tears of relief. She lowered her head so that it rested upon Charlie's chest. His familiar smell was so comforting, and things got even better when he started softly rubbing her back. "You were screaming, love," Charlie whispered, obviously mystified at Claire's behavior. "Did you have a bad dream?"

He was alive; her Charlie was most certainly alive. The only man she had ever truly loved was alive. "A dream," Claire repeated, refusing to let go of Charlie. "Ethan… Ethan was chasing me! And you…" Claire paused and took a deep gulp of air to try to at least become a little calmer. "You were dead, Charlie. Hanging from a tree. I've never been so scared…"

Charlie didn't answer, but his fingers flew almost impulsively to his neck. For the first time, Claire clearly saw the marks there, the scars that went all the way around his neck. And now she knew where they came from. "Oh my God, Charlie," she breathed, staring in horror at the scars. "It wasn't a dream? You… Ethan hung you from a tree? But… but… how?" She was certain that she was going to start sobbing again. How in the world did he survive that?

"Kate and Jack found me in time," Charlie replied with a solemn nod, looking nervously at her, as if he was anxious about upsetting her further. "They cut me down, Jack pounded the bloody crap out of my chest to get my heart working, and I was fine. Well, except for the fact that we couldn't find you…"

Charlie trailed off, and Claire gently kissed the scar on his neck. He had nearly died, and it was all because he was trying to protect her. "Have I ever told you that I love you, Charlie?" she asked him.

That wiped the serious look off his face instantly, and Charlie broke into an ear-to-ear smile. God, how Claire adored that smile! "Yes, ma'am, I think you did just yesterday on your birthday," Charlie responded, sounding quite happy, and maybe even still a little pleasantly shocked to be hearing Claire say those words. "Though, I might have been dreaming. I was worried about that afterwards."

Claire laughed. It felt so good to laugh after that awful dream or memory or whatever it was. "That wasn't a dream, either, Charlie," she assured. "I really, truly love you."

"Well, in that case…" Charlie said with an impish grin. He pulled her chin up so he was staring her right in the eyes and gently kissed her while he softly stroked her hair. Claire smiled; everything thing in the world was so perfect. Charlie pulled away, a lot sooner than Claire would have liked, complaining, "Why were you smiling, Claire? How am I supposed to kiss you passionately when you're smiling?" But he was chuckling, too.

Claire sighed happily, snuggling up against Charlie as he placed his arm around her shoulders. Yes, Charlie had nearly died. However, he had survived, and he loved her as much as she loved him. But a question had sprung to her mind. "Charlie," she asked, "how did you get to me so quickly after I woke up? It was only a matter of seconds. Your bed is a good two minute jog away!"

Looking rather sheepishly at the ground, Charlie stated, rather quickly, "Well, every night since you've gotten back, I've been, sort of, keeping watch. I camp out after you fall asleep and try to leave before you wake up. Over there." Charlie pointed to a tree a few feet away from Claire's bed. "To make sure that nothing happens to you."

"Charlie!" Claire exclaimed, trying to sound stern but failing because she was so touched. "You've been keeping watch every night? You need some sleep yourself! You must be exhausted!" Yup, Claire decided. He was the most adorable person she had ever met. "You need to take care of yourself, Charlie."

"Oh, I'm better now than I was when you were gone, Claire," Charlie replied, his eyes becoming slightly cloudy, as if he were thinking about that time. "Much better. When you were gone, everything just felt so… so wrong. I told Kate that I was crumbling inside."

Claire planted another kiss on Charlie's cheek. She knew exactly what he was talking about, how scared and incomplete she felt when she thought that she had lost Charlie. Suddenly a genius idea hit her. An idea that would allow Charlie to feel sure that she was safe and get some sleep at the same time. An idea that would let Claire make sure that her Charlie was safe as well. "Lie down right here," she commanded Charlie, patting the space on her blanket next to her. When Charlie's eyes widened, Claire smiled and exclaimed, "Come on, now!"

Shrugging, Charlie lied down right behind Claire. She took his arm, and, after she had lain back down, put it across her chest, so he could feel her heartbeat. She settled her head right below his chin getting as close to Charlie as she humanly could with climbing on top of him, and she was able to hear his heart thumping in his chest. "If anything happens, you'll be sure to know," she assured him, smiling. Her Peanut stirred slightly; he must be feeling as comfortable as Claire was. "Goodnight Charlie."

Claire wasn't scared anymore. And with her Peanut and her Charlie, she knew that she would never have to worry about being alone ever again.


End file.
